Caught Thinking
by LockWhoSuper
Summary: High school, human AU, Destiel if you squint but you don't have to squint that hard. Based off of a Tumblr Prompt, person A (Castiel) is thinking generally odd thoughts, panics and thinks "if you can read my mind, cough." Person B (Dean) coughs. Rated M for bad use of language.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note- This is an AU prompt I found on Tumblr a little while ago.

AU prompt: Person A is thinking sexually graphic or generally odd thoughts and suddenly panics and thinks "If you're a mind reader, cough right now." Person B coughs.

It's a high school, human AU, kind of Destiel thing. I mean, I guess it's kind of obvious that Castiel likes Dean, maybe? Kind of? I hope so. Instead of the sexually graphic thoughts, I did the generally odd thoughts. Sorry if Castiel and Dean are OOC.

Castiel's thoughts are in italics, Castiel thinking is the only form of speech in this little fic anyways. But it's his thoughts, just in case it's confusing.

WARNING FOR BAD USE OF LANGUAGE.

Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters, nor am I making any money off of this.

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><p>Castiel was pretty much the definition of 'that weird loner in the back', socially awkward and his head almost always buried in a book, no one paid him much attention accept for when they needed to copy his homework, or when his two left feet got the better of him and he trips in front of everyone giving them something to laugh at while he picks himself up off the ground without help from anybody.<p>

It was during Castiel's timetabled art lesson when it happened. Any form of art wasn't that hard in Castiel's opinion, but that was probably only because he liked the subject. They were studying portraits at the moment and Castiel sighed, slumping down inside his over sized trench coat. Having just accidentally put his thumb into a blob of forest green paint instead of his paint brush, Castiel idly wiped his thumb with a rag and let his mind wonder as his canvas dried.

Castiel sat at his easel at the back of the class and started thinking about what book he should read next, he made a list in his head and decided his top choices were either dead languages, anatomy of bees, ancient demon summoning, knitting patterns, or the next Harry Potter.

_"I haven't studied Sanskrit yet, could be interesting," _Castiel thought quietly to himself.

_"44 letters in the alphabet? 45? 46?" _A small frown painted Castiel's face.

_"Well that's decided then. I wonder if the library will have anything on it," _there was a pauses in his thoughts as Castiel sub consciously mixed paint together to make a brown.

_"Probably not," _sighing inwardly, Castiel made a mental note to drive to the library in the next town over.

_"Their archive is useful, they did have a lot on Latin. Remember to print something off one of the computers for your report on healthy eating. Healthy eating, what a boring subject. I should talk about how salad is rabbit food and how a burger is much more satisfying," _there was a noise from the boy sitting next to Castiel which oddly sounded like a snort of laughter.

Castiel squinted his eyes and glared at his portrait, _"what the hell could be so funny," _thought Castiel bitterly.

_"Stupid Dean Winchester, always laughing at something." _Turning his head sightly, Castiel looked through his eye lashes over to the green-eyed boy sitting next to him. Dean was facing forwards, right hand raised and holding a fine paint brush with a blob of black paint on the tip. Castiel couldn't see what Dean was painting, but he suspected it would probably be a naked girl. The corner of Dean's mouth twitched and Castiel looked away.

_"He's wearing the same jeans as yesterday, surely a hole that big in the knees warrants for a new pair." _Castiel dipped his paint brush into his brown and raised his hand back up to his canvas,

_"Perhaps the anatomy of bees would be better than Sanskrit," _his thoughts drifted back to books.

_"The language will still be dead tomorrow, but the bees however, after rabbit food I could plot flight patterns and mating cycles."_ Washing his brush in a dirty jar of water, Castiel mixed black into the remainder of his brown and started painting again, running the anatomy of a standard worker bee through his head as he worked.

_"Brain, salivary gland, pharynx, glossa, nerve ganglia, aorta, air sacs, honey stomach, stomach, stinger, poison sac, rectum, chambers of dorsal vessel, wings. Wings." _Sighing, Castiel put down his paint brush and ran his fingers through his hair, messing up his attempt of flattening it. Rolling his shoulders, Castiel imagined a set of wings large enough to carry his body weight so he could fly away from this place.

_"I wonder what color my wings would be, probably black like my hair- carpets match the drapes," _Castiel thought and laughed through his nose. Beside him Dean almost choked on his saliva but Castiel didn't notice.

_"Small intestine and the respirator muscle." _Mentally patting himself on the back, Castiel straightened in his seat and picked up his brush again.

_"Anatomy of bees, easy. Portrait's almost finished, left eyes bigger than the right, I could fix it, or leave it. Fix it or leave it? Fix it or leave it?" _Tilting his head to the side, Castiel stared at his portrait

_"Just stop looking at it and it will be fine. Go wash your paint tray, class is almost over." _Making a move to stand, Castiel trod on the belt of his trench coat and tripped over the straining piece of material.

Castiel knocked his easel and his jar of dirty water knocked over and water sloshed all over the floor before and after the jar smashed on the ground. _"Fucken shit, god damn it, happens every god damn fucking time, get ready for the fucking laughing. Just ignore it Castiel, fucken watch where you are fucking going to put your fat feet next time. Great, the fucken teachers looking, don't say anything, just nod, you fucking know what to do. This isn't the first fucking time you've made a fucking mess."_ Castiel shuttered as the anger towards himself made his pulse thud loudly in his ears and took a deep breath through his mouth and then exhaled slowly and loudly back out through his nose.

As Castiel stood up he winced at his use of vocabulary and silently prayed that God wasn't listening to his blasphemy. Catching Dean looking at him when he straightened properly, Castiel turned slightly red in the face and thanked the heavens that no one could read his mind. Dean smirked before Castiel's blue eyes met Dean's green ones and Dean turned his head back around to his canvas and pretended like he hadn't just smirked at him.

Castiel froze, glass and dirty paint water still on the ground around his feet, palms stinging from catching himself as he fell.

_"What if someone could read my mind?" _Shaking his head, Castiel laughed through his nose again and made himself put one foot in front of the other and move his body in mechanical movements to rid the floor of all the glass sharps and water. Lowering himself back into his chair, Castiel sat waiting for the bell to ring, it was lunch next and he had free period last so he could go home early.

_"What if someone could read my mind," _he thought again looking around the class.

_"Obviously impossible," _Castiel folded his arms across his chest and drew his knees up to rest his feet on the bar at the bottom of his chair.

_"But just to make sure. If you can read my mind," _Castiel thought loudly as if he were shouting.

_"Cough right now," _There was a pregnant pause before a cough came from beside him.

Castiel whipped his head around and stared at Dean. But Dean was facing away from Castiel, putting his brushes away in his back pack.

_"A coincidence, Dean Winchester can't read my mind." _There was another pause as Castiel just watched Dean pack away his stuff.

_"This is stupid but just in case it wasn't a coincidence," _looking directly at Dean, Castiel tried again.

_"If you can read my mind," _he shouted in his head again, _"cough right now."_

Dean turned his head to stare straight back at Castiel, and coughed.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note- This is part two of Caught Thinking. I wasn't going to write another but a few people asked if I could, so. Here.

Castiel's thoughts are still in italics and this is set straight after part one. There are some time jumps and stuff, but they should be easy to follow, sorry if there is any confusion or anything.

WARNING FOR BAD USE OF LANGUAGE. AGAIN.

Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters, nor am I making any money off of this.

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><p>Castiel's mind short circuited and he sat in his chair staring dumbly at Dean until the bell rang which seemed to snap Castiel out of his shock of <em>"what the fuck, Dean Winchester can't actually read my mind- Holy shit actually he can,"<em> and Castiel ran. Running was more along the lines of slipping out of seat, stumbling over his own feet and socking another class mate in the face with his back pack when he slung it over one shoulder and made his hastily retreat out into the halls and got lost in the sea of students heading towards the cafeteria.

Castiel didn't stop running until he got home. Jamming his keys into the lock, Castiel threw the front door open and slammed it shut behind him, pressing his body against it.

"Cassie!" Came a shout from the kitchen and soon Gabriel was bouncing towards Castiel with a concerned look on his face.

"Was the dog down the road chasing you again? Because I know a few tricks to-"

"No, Gabriel," Castiel said firmly and he pushed himself away from the door.

"It's nothing, the wind- No- It wasn't. I just- Sorry," Castiel flushed and shut his mouth, he never was very good at lying and Gabriel wouldn't believe him if he told him that he ran all the way home from school because _"Dean-freaking-Winchester can read minds and I'm experiencing a mild panic attack and stressing out because I have a small- Okay, huge fucking crush on him and he's sure to know this and oh God I have classes with him, what the fuck am I going to do?"_

Oblivious to Castiel's inner turmoil, Gabriel squinted his eyes suspiciously and nodded very slowly, "what's happened Castiel?"

"N-nothing, Gabriel. I tripped through the door way and grabbed the door to- To catch myself and it slammed," Castiel paused and the added "on accident," for good measure.

It was clear Gabriel didn't believe him but Castiel was thankfully saved by the oven timer and Gabriel streaked out of the hall yelling something about his cupcakes and Castiel thankfully escaped upstairs.

_"No ones going to believe that Dean Winchester can read your mind." _Castiel shed his trench coat and slipped off his shoes when he got to his room, _"I have Gym, Chemistry and Art with him tomorrow. That's fine. Three hours. Nothing to worry about." _

_"Nothing to worry about, everything's fine. Dean was just sick or something," _Castiel was pacing in the kitchen the next morning, too anxious to eat. _"It was just a coincidence that he coughed just as you decided to check if someone could read your mind." _Castiel was still trying to unsuccessfully convince himself that he was being ridiculous, Dean couldn't read minds. _"No one can read minds. You could skip school, call in sick. What do I have that's worth skipping. Everything to do with Dean is worth skipping. Shit," _Castiel ran his hands through his hair roughly, _"biology test."_

"You look constipated Cassie," Gabriel's shoulder was pressed against the door frame as he casually lent against it watching Castiel.

"I-I have a b-biology test," Castiel stuttered and Gabriel still didn't look very convinced. "I didn't really study for it."

There was an awkward silence in the kitchen and Castiel looked anywhere but his elder brother.

"Come on," Gabriel reached into his jeans pocket and dangled his car keys, "I'll drive you to school."

The silence in the car was worse than it was in the kitchen. When Gabriel found a parking space Castiel hesitated when climbing out of his car.

"Could you write me a note for Gym? I'm not feeling very well."

"Sure, Castiel. Do you have-"

Castiel thrust a crumbled piece of refill and a pen into Gabriel's hands and waited anxiously while Gabriel scrawled an excuse onto the piece of paper and signing it. At one point, Gabriel must have pressed too hard against the starring wheel and made the horn go off, scaring Castiel and a group or freshmen.

"Here, Castiel," Gabriel handed back the pen and his note to get out of Gym.

Castiel muttered his thanks and pocketed both.

When Castiel didn't get out of the car, Gabriel turned to his younger brother and asked him if anything was seriously wrong because, "I know when you're lying Cassie and something happened yesterday when you got home and you didn't eat breakfast this morning."

_"This is your opportunity, Castiel. Tell him. Maybe he will think you're crazy and ship you off to a mental hospital for believing that Dean can read your mind. Then you won't have to face Dean ever again and forget all about your stupid crush."_

"It's um," Castiel tugged on a loose thread on his trench coat, "Dean Winchester. He-" Castiel was cut off by the school bell.

"Shit!" Springing out of his seat, Castiel threw Gabriel's car door open and practically leaped out of the vehicle. Whipping around once his feet were firmly planted on the concrete out side, Castiel bent down and grabbed his back pack and swung it over his shoulder.

"What about Dean Winchester, Castiel? Do I need to-"

"No! No, Gabriel, it's nothing. I am simply over reacting," Castiel hesitated before shutting the car door. "Could I borrow your I-Pod? Just for today?"

"Sure, Cassie. I got some great new music, it's in the glove compartment." Gabriel waved a hand towards the glove compartment and seconds later Castiel had taken it, along with a pair of head phones, said a quick thank you and a goodbye and was now sprinting off towards Gym.

Castiel only sees Dean once during Gym and when Dean notices Castiel he smirks and waves which makes Castiel turn bright red and turn up his music.

_"There is no way Dean can read your mind when your listening to music," _Castiel mentally patted himself on the back and handed the Gym teacher Gabriel's note. _"Dean looks good in his Gym clothes- Shut up Castiel and go sit in the fucking bleachers." _Castiel's mental back patting turned into a couple of hard mental smacks against the back of his own head. _"Study for biology and don't you dare watch Dean from behind your book."_

Walking through the halls between classes, Castiel takes paths that he usually wouldn't take to avoid Dean and keeps Gabriel's headphones in with his music blasting just encase. During lunch, Castiel hides in an empty class room and eats a cupcake that Gabriel made yesterday. With great regret Castiel also skips Chemistry and hides in the boys bathrooms all period.

When it was time for art, Castiel moved his easel to the front of the class and busied himself with his paints when Dean walked into the class. _"Don't look- Involuntary movement of the retina, can't be helped sometimes. I don't think he noticed that I looked, but I can't risk a glance over the shoulder encase he does then definitely notice. He has to know that you are completely loosing your mind over this, if he can't actually read your mind he's just going to tell all his friends that you are completely weird and avoiding him and skipping classes and freaking out. He's not that stupid," _despite himself Castiel laughed a little and relaxed in his seat when some heavy metal rock thing of Gabriel's filtered through his ears.

Castiel painted not distracted by Dean right up until the bell that signaled class was over went and Castiel was packing up his stuff when a note was purposely dropped onto his lap. Castiel quickly snatched up the note when its sudden appearance on his lap made him jump and his legs parted and the note almost dropped to the floor.

Confused, Castiel opened the note. Castiel's breath hitched in his throat as he read the five messy words, 'your taste in music sucks.'

Under the words was a cell phone number and Castiel snapped his head up quickly, hopping to catch someone standing beside him asking for their note back or someone other than Dean Winchester walking out of the art class looking over the shoulder and winking at him, mouthing the words 'call me.'


	3. Chapter 3

Author's note- This is part three of Caught Thinking. I wasn't going to write another but a few people asked if I could, so. Here. (Again)

Castiel's thoughts are still in italics and this is set straight after part two. There are some text messages at the end of the fic, sorry for the little spoiler, but I just wanted to say that they will be in normal text with one quote, air mark thing around them. Just encase there is any confusion.

WARNING FOR BAD USE OF LANGUAGE. AGAIN (AGAIN.)

Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters, nor am I making any money off of this.

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><p>Other students were filling into class now and Castiel realized that he was probably sitting in someones seat. Shoving Dean Winchesters note into the pocket of his trench coat, Castiel stood abruptly, grabbed his back pack and ran out of class leaving his mess of things behind for the next student to clean up.<p>

_"I have other things to think about," _Castiel thought as he ran, one of Gabriel's head phones was knocked out of his ear as he ran into no one other than Dean Winchesters brother. Knowing the headphones were useless against Deans _"mysterious fucking powers" _Castiel let it bang against his chest as he scattered backwards from Sam, letting his thoughts stream towards the younger boy, assuming he had the same _"fucking mind trick" _as Dean.

_"What the hell is happening? Who are you? Where did you come from? Have I fallen asleep during a history lesson and has Mr Singer started to talk about the mid-evil times where Scorers roamed the Earth and this is just some dream or have I just finally completely gone insane?" _Castiel screamed in his mind, his face contorting with emotions. Castiel felt as though he was going to be sick.

"Cas? Are you okay?" Sam asked slowly, his young voice full of worry.

A strangled noise filled the air, it sounded like a laugh but it was too shrill to be a laugh and it took Castiel a moment to realize that the noise had come from his own throat. Castiel was frightened, he didn't understand Dean or his brother, for once in his life Castiel was afraid of the unknown.

"I don't know" Castiel strangled out, his voice sounded weak and rougher than usual, strange to his own ears.

"Are you hurt?" Asked Sam again, a worried frown etched into his brow hidden under a mop of brown hair and Castiel shook his head, Gabriel's other head phone fell out of his ear and bumped against his chest. This seemed to snap Castiel out of his frightened state and he flushed. Embarrassed about causing a commotion in the halls and worrying Sam, Castiel just shook his head again.

"Sorry Sam, I have to go. There's- There's something I have to do-" Stuttering out another few words that were incoherent, Castiel fixed the strap of his bag on his shoulder and turned to walk away.

Behind him, Sam raised his eyebrows, frown erased, and pivoted on the spot to watch Castiel's retreating form. "Are you still coming over tonight for tutoring? I have a maths test tomorrow and I could really use your help!" Sam yelled out after him and Castiel almost froze in his tracks. The only way Sam knew that Castiel had heard him was the hitch in the older boys step and the way he hunched himself over as he ignored him. Castiel folded his arms across his chest and retreated into himself. Gabriel's music forgotten and when a couple of assholes thought it would be funny to push Castiel into a row of lockers he didn't even spare them a second glance.

_"You should not have ignored him like that. What am I going to do?" _Castiel asked himself as he walked, gently pushing open the exit doors of his school building so he could get outside. _"Sam didn't look like he could hear me. Maybe he doesn't share the gift that Dean has."_

_"I really freaked him out. I'll have to apologize."_

_"I'll never be able to face Sam again, not after that display."_

_"When I get home, I'll ring him and apologize."_

_"Sorry but I can no longer be any of help to you, Sam. I'll put your name in for another tutor tomorrow. Why? I'm too busy with my own studies." _Castiel shook his he lightly as he walked, _"no, Sam would never buy that." _Trudging along the pavement, Castiel racked his brain for an excuse that Sam would believe.

_"Gabriel needs help with the bakery after school most days, I have little time to juggle my own studies and help you with yours while I work there," _that excuse sounded harsher than Castiel intended it to be, but he was sure by the time he got home he'd of worked out a softer way to say it.

_"Ditching Sam and his studies isn't your only problem- Shut up- This is not happening and I don't want to think about it. I don't want to think about Dean and his ripped jeans. Or his bow legs supported by strong muscles in his legs. Or how perfectly my hands could slot against his waist, how no matter how hard he works in Gym or during football training he can't seem to manage being able to turn the slight pudge he has in his abdomen into muscle- Which was actually quite attractive. Stop." _Taking a deep shuttering breath, Castiel focused on his shoes tapping against the concert beneath his feet and made his way home, skin itching and uncomfortably warm because of his thoughts of Dean.

Castiel was thankfully alone when he arrived home. He wasn't quite ready to face Gabriel after what happened that morning. Gabriel was sure to spit fire and ask Castiel a lot of questions about why he was over-reacting over a boy. A certain boy named Dean Winchester and Castiel wasn't quite ready to lie to Gabriel about what was going on. Dumping his back pack onto the floor, Castiel shed his trench coat and toed off his shoes, flopping straight onto his bed, Gabriel's headphones smacked his face as they bounced back against the mattress.

_"Why does Gabriel's music taste have to be so eccentric? Dean never would have bothered me with his note if it wasn't for Gabriel." _Lifting his head, Castiel blew a lock of his messy hair out of his eyes and fumbled around blindly on the floor for his trench coat. When his fingers finally brushed fabric instead of carpet, Castiel was half dangling off the bed, his sock clad feet were hooked around one side and his torso was hanging off the other. One hand was gripping his head-board while with the other he grappled his trench coat until he got a firm hold of material between his fingers and hefted the trench coat towards him.

Castiel did some kind of awkward half attempt at a sit up to pull himself back onto his bed properly. Draping his trench coat across his knees, Castiel rummaged both of its pockets and pulled out Dean's note gingerly in his fist along with his cell phone a moment later.

'Your taste in music sucks' followed by a cell phone number. _"Dean wants me to call him."_

_"Dean wants me to call him and have a conversation about my taste in music."_

_"Shit." _

Castiel drew his bottom lip between his teeth and worried it until it was raw.

_"Maybe I should just text Dean, instead of calling him.''_

Palms slightly sweaty, Castiel thumbed the screen of his phone unlocking it. Creating a new contact, Castiel carefully and deliberately typed in each number from the note into his phone delicately. _"It feels like I'm defusing a bomb," _Castiel laughed through his nose as he entered Dean Winchester as the contact name and then saved it to his sim card.

Opening Dean's newly saved contact, Castiel thumbed through the options and created a new message. The little line waiting for Castiel to type letters blinked at him ominously, Castiel just squints his eyes at it, watching it blink.

'It wasn't my music,' the first text sits there, it's more of a draft than anything. Castiel deletes it.

'Dropping a note onto my lap, how very pre-school,' the second text sits there for a full minuet before Castiel deletes that one too.

'I prefer to text.' _"No."_

'Can you really read my mind?' _"Yes, that's perfect. Send it." _Castiel's thumb hovered over the send button. _"No." _He deletes that message too. _"What about a simple 'hello'."_

'Hello Dean.' _"That sounds creepy. He won't even know it's from me. Delete."_

'Can you tell your brother that I can no longer tutor him because of you and your stupid face.'

'I skipped chemistry because of you.'

'I have also probably failed my biology test because I can't stop thinking about you reading my thoughts- Which are about you.'

'One of your foot ball friends pushed me into a row of lockers this afternoon like they do every afternoon when I leave school. If you can read my mind, surely you know that they do this. Can't you stop it?'

'Can you read others minds?'

'Is this a trick?'

'Are you secretly laughing at me and how pathetic I am? How easily fooled I am by you?'

_"Great, now you've made yourself sad, and angry. Fucking Dean Winchester."_

'Fuck you Dean. Fuck you and your forest green eyes, day old stubble and that ratty leather jacket.' _"No, delete." _Now Castiel was back at the beginning, an empty message screen with a blinking line staring up at him as he sat cross-legged in the middle of his bed, trench coat still draped across his knees. Taking a deep breath, Castiel shut his eyes and prayed for help and forgiveness. Too much swearing would blacken Castiel's soul.

'Hello Dean, I actually don't have a preference to music. If you recommend something that you consider good in taste, I will be happy to listen to 'something' better. -Castiel.' Before he could chicken out again, Castiel hit send and waited.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's note- This is part four of Caught Thinking. God, I'm a sucky person and haven't written anything for this story in ages. I am so sorry I suck. So here. Another chapter. Yay.

There's this mullet thing in here, it'll make sense when you read it. I just googled it and found some stuff. The stuffs from 'plague of the mullet.' Just encase people wanna check it out. Probably not though.

Castiel's thoughts are still in italics and this is set straight after part three. Like. Straight after. There are text messages in this one, I tried to make it as easy as possible to understand, I hope it's okay.

There's a little time jump, just from the evening to eating breakfast, I also hope that it's not too confusing.

WARNING FOR BAD USE OF LANGUAGE. (ALWAYS)

Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural, any mullets, or any of the characters, nor am I making any money off of this.

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><p><em>"Why did I text him. Oh God, why." <em>Castiel had hardly moved an inch since he hit send. He still sat crossed legged on his bed, trench coat still across his knees, cradling his phone, undecided about whether or not he wanted to clutch his phone tighter or throw it across the room. _"Gabriel will kill you, bake your insides into a pie and sell it if you damage your phone." _Castiel clutched it tighter.

_"I'm going to be sick. No you're not. Doesn't stop me from feeling nauseous. Shouldn't he of text back by now? Just because you don't have a life doesn't mean that others don't have lives, Castiel. He's probably working at Singer's Auto, or on his Impala. He could be driving, hopefully he has some sense not to answer his phone while driving. You've seen the way he drives, he'd of answered." _Castiel swallows as another theory dawned on him, _"Dean is probably on a date with Lisa- Holy shit." _There was a demonic 'ping' that derailed Castiel's train of thought. _"What the fuck was that? Fuck, that was Dean replying. I am defiantly going to be sick now."_

Hovering his thumb over the text notification, Castiel closed his eyes in one quick motion and swiped blindly across his screen. Holding his breath, Castiel peeked through his thick lashes.

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Hey Castiel :) I was wondering when I would get a message from you. Do you mind if I call you Cas? Castiel's kind of a mouth full'

_"There's a smiley face, and he's giving me a nickname. Cas." _Castiel stared at the open message, re-reading it over and over again, committing it to memory. _"He was wondering when he'd get a message from me. Was he waiting for me? Did he check his phone every five seconds? Was it is arms reach all evening?" _His heart pounded in his throat as he tapped the screen to start his reply.

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'Cas is fine.'

_"Should I also put a smiley face? What else do I say? How was your day? Just send it, he's the one that wanted you to text him, he'll supply the conversation."_

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Cas it is then :)'

_"Supply the conversation I said, shit. What am I going to say to tha-" _There was another demonic 'ping.'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Since your taste in music sucks I'm making you a mix tape'

_"A mix tape?" _The speed of Castiel's heart pounding raced and it took a few heavy swallows to dislodge his heart sticking to the inside of his throat. _"Aren't mix tapes romantic gestures?"_

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'A mix tape?'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'I hope you like the classics'

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'Classics?'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Black Sabbath, Motor Head, Metallica, the greatest hits of mullet rock.'

_"Often the mullet is misconceived to originate in the early 1980's in the US, thought that is generally regarded as the origin of the modern mullet. The original birth place of the mullet is unknown, but there is evidence to believe that they are linked back to the Egyptians because the Great Sphinx which dates back 4500 years ago has the short hair at the front, complete lack of side burns and the long flowing hair at the back." _Castiel's thumb hovered over the send button, _"no, I can't just bombard him with facts. He'll think you're a freak." _Backspacing his message, Castiel stared non-blinking at his phone until the screen went dark.

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'Is the mix tape going to consist of only classics?'

_"Best to avoid mullet facts," _thought Castiel as he anxiously waited for Dean's reply.

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'You can take your anemic pop and shove it up your ass. You need a taste of the classics, something that isn't your brothers'

Castiel's thudding heart came to a shuddering halt in his throat and sunk to the pit of his stomach, _"he knew? Of course he knew. Stupid Dean Winchester."_

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'Gabriel's taste is a bit eccentric'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Eccentric is the wrong word to use'

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'What word would you use?'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Lame'

A bubble of laughter escaped Castiel and it surprised him, _"Dean Winchester made me laugh, and it was at Gabriel's expense. He's made me laugh and he's making me a mix tape, this is insane. I wonder what he's wearing- No, that's inappropriate. I don't think I have a cassette player, who even uses those anymore?" _With a slight confused frown, Castiel quickly typed out his next message.

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'Why are you making me a tape, instead of a CD?'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'CD's are overrated, who needs a floppy piece of plastic when you can have a hard durable work of art that lasts forever?'

_"Floppy? Hard? Are those sexual innuendos? Your looking too far into it, but I can't exactly argue with his logic."_

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'The first cassette tape was developed in 1958, but they didn't get popular until 1964'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'No shit, really? How do you even know that?'

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'I read a lot of books and know a lot of seemingly useless facts about most things'

_"Why did I lie to him, he's going to find out I lied. Why didn't I just tell him I googled it? I'm a horrible person."_

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'That's awesome, my brother Sam is really into that stuff too. You know Sam right?'

Castiel dropped his phone as if it had burnt him. _"I didn't ring Sam and apologize for not being able to tutor him, he has a math test and needed my help. This is why Deans keeping a conversation with me, he wants to tear me a new one for ditching his brother. I have to apologize."_

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'Yes I know Sam. He's a very bright young man and I apologize for skipping out on tutoring him this afternoon. Please would you pass on my apology? I'm sorry, I'll find him a new tutor tomorrow'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Cas, that's not what I meant. Sammy's okay with you bailing on him, he's a big boy and understands how stressful being a senior is. You probably just had a tone of homework or something, he gets it'

_"He isn't mad?" _Before he could think anymore on the subject, another message from Dean appeared in his inbox.

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Your very own mix tape is ready for you, I'll give it to you tomorrow at school :)'

_"He finished it already?" _Castiel moved his eyes from his messages to the time at the top of his screen. _"Shit, is it that late? Fuck, Gabriel's probably home and eaten without me. Fuck, I do actually have homework. Stupid Dean Winchester and his easy go nature of being easy to talk to, and fuck my need to calculate every reply I send him. He probably thinks I have a stick up my ass. It's probably time I got up. Oh God my feet are asleep." _With a groan, Castiel unfolded his legs and stretched. He straightened his spine with a pained gasp and wiggled his toes, recirculating the blood flow and hopefully ward off pins and needles.

Standing, Castiel's trench coat slid off his lap and landed in a crumpled pile at his feet. Phone still in hand, Castiel extend both of his arms above his head and bent backwards, cracking his spine. Castiel sighed happily out his nose and ran a hand through his messy hair, he didn't realize how long his little stretching routine took until his phone gave another demonic 'ping.'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Your not going to avoid me tomorrow are you?'

_"Um."_

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'No'

**To: **Castiel, **Sender: **Dean- 'Great, I'll see you at your locker before period one. Have a goodnight Cas ;)'

_"Was that a flirtation?" _Castiel stated down at his phone, lips parted, a slight blush painted his cheeks.

**To: **Dean, **Sender: **Castiel- 'Goodnight Dean'

_"That went okay, yeah. That was fine. Or was it? Okay, no, that was bad. Very, very bad. Dean made me a mix tape. He's going to see me at my locker tomorrow. I'm going to have a face to face conversation with Dean Winchester. Get a hold of yourself Castiel, breath, everything's fine. But don't forget that he can possibly read your mind. How could I of forgotten. But I now have Dean Winchesters cell phone number," _despite himself, Castiel's heart started racing in him chest again. _"I have Deans number and he has mine." _Resisting the urge to dance with glee like a teenage girl, Castiel took a deep breath and put his phone onto charge.

"That's your third bowl of cereal," Gabriel was sitting across from Castiel, watching him shovel another spoonful of cereal into his mouth and then swallow.

It was the next morning. After Castiel had put his cell phone onto charge he had practically floated to the bathroom and was on cloud nine when he showered and when he crawled into bed. Completely ignoring the fact that he did have homework and hadn't eaten anything other than one of Gabriel's cupcakes and had fallen asleep rather quickly.

"I'm hungry," Castiel mumbled around the spoon in his mouth before scooping up some more, chewing it sarcastically much to the disgruntled scowl of Gabriel's gaze.

"Are we going to talk about what the hell was going on yesterday?"

Avoiding Gabriel's eyes, Castiel pushed the remainder of his cereal around with his spoon. _"No," _he thought, _"I don't want to talk about what happened yesterday."_

"It's stupid," Castiel admitted out loud with a blush. Gabriel just sat and waited for his younger brother to continue.

"There's this boy," he breathed quickly, watching his spoon chase the cereal around his bowl. Gabriel finished his toast and took a sip of his coffee before asking if the boy was Dean Winchester. Castiel nodded weakly and his faint blush deepened.

"Do you like him?" Gabriel questioned. His tone of voice was slightly teasing, but only slightly because even though this was a serious conversation, he was still Castiel's brother and this was some solid teasing material.

"No!" Castiel replied a little too loudly and quickly. "I don't like him, he's stupid." Castiel had raised his spoon while he talked and it was pointed at Gabriel's chest like it was there to threaten him and emphasis his point of Deans stupidness at the same time. _"Liar," _Castiel thought to himself quietly.

Gabriel was obviously not convinced, "what's the problem then?"

Castiel wet his lips with his tongue and dropped his spoon, wincing apologetically at the louder than expected clatter it made against the side of his bowl. Leaning back in his chair, Castiel squinted his eyes at Gabriel and pursed his lips, daring Gabriel to say anything now or interrupt later. Gabriel was all too familiar with Castiels squinty eyes and the way he puffed up his chest defensively, so he just sat back and mirrored him.

"I have a pathetic school girl crush on Dean and it sucks because he's kind of popular and I'm not. He plays sports and wears ripped jeans and the same leather jacket everyday. I don't know what to feel when I'm around him because there's no chance he can feel the same way about me. He probably thinks I'm weird like everyone else does because I'm always making a fool of myself in front of him and I sort of maybe freaked out his brother because of- Oh, um,-" Castiel's rant faltered a little and he hesitated while he reworded the thoughts in his head to avoid telling Gabriel about the whole insane mind reading thing. Gabriel just raised an eyebrow and Castiel was thankful he didn't say anything. "-Because," Castiel continued carefully, "Dean gave me this note in art yesterday with his phone number on it, and I didn't know how to react to that. Dean Winchester gave me his phone number so I text him and now everything's okay but it's still not okay because he made me a mix tape and now I'm going to have to talk to him face to face and-" Gabriel raised a hand.

"Cassie, you're going to blow a fuse, take a breath. There," Gabriel smiled, "isn't that better? Now, I think you should just go get him," he said with a wink and Castiel dropped his squinty eye glowering façade and blushed. "Don't over think it, okay? Let the magic flow-"

"-ew, Gabriel, don't wiggle your eyebrows like that-"

"-and maybe change out of that dirty coat."

Castiel sat up in his seat, "what's wrong with my coat?"

Crinkling his nose, Gabriel gave Castiel a once over, "everything. Go change. Wear the blue sweater vest." Pouting a little, Castiel did as Gabriel told him and then met his brother in his car. When Castiel climbed in and had his safety belt buckled, Gabriel turned to him and waited patently.

Castiel tugged at his sweater vest and fiddled with the hem. Sighing when Gabriel didn't start the car, Castiel said a little embarrassed, "it has been an acceptable amount of time for you to laugh now."

"I'm not going to laugh Cassie!" Gabriel said with a shit eating grin and he turned the keys in the ignition. "Castiel's all grown up," faking a sniff, Gabriel pulled out of their drive way and into the street. "Little Cassie has his first crush, I'm so proud." Gabriel dicked around all the way to school and Castiel was more than happy to get out of the car and watch his brother drive away.

_"Now all I have to do is go inside and face Dean Winchester. I can do that, go with the flow like Gabriel said." _Castiel took a deep breath, maybe even ran his fingers through his hair a few times and smoothed out his clothes before fixing his backpack over his shoulder and walking inside the building to Dean.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note- This is part five of Caught Thinking. This instalment is in Dean's point of view, it's basically just Dean recapping the road so far. See what I did there? I'm so funny.

There are the little time jumps from the evenings to the mornings, and like always I also hope that it's not too confusing.

WARNING FOR BAD USE OF LANGUAGE. (ALWAYS)

Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural, or any of the characters, nor am I making any money off of this.

* * *

><p>While Castiel was the definition of the weird loner in the back, Dean was just the typical football player who kind of cruised through everything. He wasn't exactly popular because his best friends were Jo and Charlie, and they were the co-founders of the Star Wars club which only consisted of seven members- Kevin, Chuck, Ash, Garth and Dean himself. But then Dean was kind of sort of popular because he was on the foot ball team, went to parties and was school famous for being openly bisexual with a reputation of dating a lot of girls and a few guys.<p>

One of Deans favorite pass times is listening to other people's thoughts. It's true that it's a curse, but in Deans opinion, most of the time it's a blessing because some of the shit that high-schoolers and teachers think is golden. Deans favorite mind to read is the raven haired, blue-eyed boy who sits next to him in art class. Castiel's a dorky, special little guy who reads ancient languages and watches documentaries for fun. Something interesting is always happening within the walls of Castiel's mind and it isn't such a bad thing that Castiel isn't pop culture swavy and has a weird obsession with bees because Dean can see what others can't and finds Castiel freaking hot. Sue him, he has eyes and Castiel is defiantly something to look at.

Dean will never forget the day when everything sort of happened. Later Sam would describe it as shit hitting the fan and Dean would fake scowled him for swearing but yeah, the kid had a point but how could Dean resist? The only reason Dean takes the stupid art class is because all you have to do is paint something and bam! there's a C+ and everyone gets to go home happy. Every time he listens in on Castiel's inner monologue, Dean thanks the heavens for his C+ average and mediocre art skills because Castiel is thinking about his home economics report and Dean can't help but laugh at what Castiel is saying because he agrees 100% on burgers over rabbit food. Deans laugh gets Castiel's attention and Dean manages to keep the smirk off of his face and pretend to be focusing on his ugly portrait in front of him. After a few seconds of Castiel's gaze, Dean just has to smirk because Dean knows all about Castiel's 'huge freaking crush on him,' one of the perks of mind reading.

Everything's going fine until Castiel gets up and trips over his own coat, dirty water going everywhere as he's sprawled out across the floor swearing up a storm. Dean sits and stares resisting the urge to drop his jaw because holy fuck who knew that Castiel had it in him. Then Castiel's asking God his forgiveness and freezing in his tracks being absolutely scandalized at the thought if anyone could read his mind just then and Dean can't help but smirk at him. Castiel meets his eyes with a blush brightening up his pale skin and Dean just has to turn away because he's going to do something he might regret later on, but that goes out the window because as Dean's packing away his brushes Castiel asks if anyone can read his mind to cough and _shit_, there's no way he can resist it so he coughs. It takes everything in him not to laugh out loud at Castiel's reaction, but it's the easiest thing to look Castiel in the eye and cough for a second time.

It was as good as time as any to finally talk to Castiel and maybe go out for burgers or catch a movie and make out in the back seat of his car, Dean didn't mean to freak him out. Before Dean could even open his mouth Castiel had stumbled and tripped his way out of class and punched some other art kid in the face with his backpack. Dean made sure to apologize to the kid while he made his way to follow Castiel out of school but he was gone, trench coat and all. Feeling bad and a little rejected, Dean scuffed his boots all the way to the student parking lot and leaned against his Impala while he waited for Sam.

"Dean," comes Sam's voice from behind him and Dean turns. Sam's standing, shoulders slouched under his layers of shirts, waiting for Dean to unlock the Impala.

"Hey Sammy!" Deans face lights up at the sight of his brother and chuckles lightly at Sam's bitch face.

"It's Sam."

"Yeah whatever bitch, just get in the car." Dean unlocks his pride and joy and slides inside, Sam follows seconds later with a retorting 'jerk' and Dean brings Baby to life.

It's not a long drive back home, and usually Dean can routinely listen to a few songs on a selected tape while he drives, effectively annoying Sam every afternoon. This is why Sam knows something's up with Dean, because Dean doesn't turn on the stereo and sing loudly off-key like he usually does.

"Okay, spill." Says Sam bluntly, not wanting Dean to get all defensive and claim Sam asking what's wrong a chick flick moment.

"Spill?"

Sam rolled his eyes and gave Dean the 'are you fucking kidding me right now' bitch face. Deans grip tightens slightly on the wheel but after a moment his shoulders slump with an exhale and Dean tells Sam all about Castiel and how he couldn't help himself by coughing because- Don't look at me like that Sam, you weren't there. Sam brings his thumb up to his mouth and chews on his finger nail worriedly while Dean continues explaining to Sam how he tried to follow Castiel out of class but when Castiel isn't tripping over the air, he's actually really fast.

"Cas isn't going to tell anyone, Sam." Dean had paused to take a breath and Sam's thoughts were kind of loud.

"Dean, you know I hate it when you do that," Sam scowled.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You just don't want me to know about Jess," grinning, Dean ignored when Sam protested and punched him in the shoulder.

"Dean, you have to be careful," Sam said in a rush, holding up a hand when Dean opened his mouth, "I like this school. You have a job and we both have friends! Dad said we could stay until you graduate but only if you're careful, we can't have a repeat of last time-"

"Thank you Samantha for your unwanted advice," grumbled Dean a little dryly. "I'll apologize tomorrow okay? Don't get your panties in a twist."

Sam licks his top lip around a smile and Dean feels himself get warm under his jacket, "shut up Sam. He's in my class, it's not like that."

"Uh-huh, sure. It's just that out next science project is on behaviors and when you talk about Castiel you talk really fast and do this thing with your hands and you don't do that when you're talking about other people, so I know that it is like that."

"Sam, you better shut your mouth right now or I swear to God I'll push you out of the car." Sam laughs and sits the rest of the drive home with a smug smile on his face.

Dean waits by Castiel's locker the next morning, Sam gave Dean a knowing smile before running off to find Jess and Jo and Charlie whooped and high-fived each other when they forced the truth out of him. When the bell rings Dean gets kind of worried that he scared Castiel off until he's standing on the field stretching with some of the other guys ignoring what's going on in their minds when he hears this loud bitchy-ass music before he can see where it's coming from.

When Castiel rounds the corner looking flustered and out of breath with headphones in, Dean realizes what he's trying to do and in his defense, Castiel has practically given Dean an invitation to smirk and wave at him. Music doesn't drown out how Castiel thinks Dean looks good in his shorts and Dean takes pleasure in making Castiel blush. Later on in the day, Dean thinks that maybe he should have just approached Castiel in the first place because his planned apology goes askew when Castiel noticeably avoids him in the halls and even skips chemistry. Dean knows he is the reason for all this because if he concentrates enough, he can hear Castiel cursing himself as he hides away in the boys bathroom. Art rolls around all too slowly in Deans opinion and for once he even tries to be early to class but when he gets there Castiel is already sitting in a seat up the front, furthest away from where Dean sits, pretending not to notice Dean walking into class. Dean just struts past him and defiantly notices when Castiel looks at him when he goes by.

Dean's kind of disappointed when Castiel zones out, but not before Dean catches his trailing thoughts. _'Why would Castiel think I was making this up? Sure it's a lot to take in at first and I'm not that much of a douche bag like the football guys to participate in such a joke'. _From this angle, Dean can stare at Castiel all he likes, all Dean wants to do is tell Castiel that it's not a joke and maybe make him blush some more. When it's almost time for the bell to ring, Dean gets an idea because listening to Castiel's shitty music was giving him a headache. He knew of course that it wasn't actually Castiel's music, but Castiel didn't have to know that he knew. With little disregard for his notebook, Dean tears off a corner and scrawls a messy note and after a brief pause, he decides to add his cell phone number underneath. When the bell goes and everyone else is streaming out into the halls, Dean follows behind them slowly and drops his note casually onto Castiel's lap. When Dean's by the door and he hears Castiel's breath hitch, he turns his head and winks in a way he hopes is seductive and in typical Winchester fashion he mouths 'call me' and saunters away to the parking lot to wait for Sam.

Sam arrives at Dean's destination five minuets later than usual, but Dean doesn't notice because he's too busy checking his phone for messages or missed calls. Sam takes Dean by surprise when he shows up looking a little pissed, demanding to know what he did to Castiel.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean asks confused. Sam tells him about what happened in the hall with Castiel and Dean frowns, bewildered. "I gave him a note with my number on it- No Sam, he still isn't going to tell anyone. He was avoiding me all day I thought this was the best option and a genius idea- Castiel's your tutor? This isn't my fault- I can help you with your math's. Sam I told you it's not like that- What do you mean Jo told you? Sam, shut up. Take a deep breath, okay? I can't think while you think."

After Sam takes a deep breath and Dean is able to take a break from Sam's constant stream of 'Dean fucked up and I'm worried for Castiel,' Dean tells Sam that he has faith Castiel will call him and that he has a plan. Sam just grunts in response and pouts while looking out the window of the Impala, ignoring Dean's dangerous driving as he checks his phone whenever he deems it's safe enough. Sam goes straight to his room to study when they get home and Dean takes his time to toe of his boots and put some chicken from the fridge into the oven for their dinner, John isn't anywhere in sight. Dean checks his phone again when he gets to his own room and finds everything he needs to make Castiel a mix tape. As Dean's compiling a list of all his favorite songs, an angelic ping comes from his mattress beside him and Dean excitedly scrambles for his phone, smiles as he reads Castiel's message, and replies almost instantly. Dean will deny it if anyone brought it up but, he grinned as he read every message Castiel sent him.

Dean only hesitated once when texting Castiel, he was afraid Castiel would reject his genius idea of making a mix tape and was relieved when Castiel seemed so open-minded about his mix tape and called it a big success. Dean made sure that Castiel wouldn't avoid him at school the next day and wished him good night, if Sam saw what Dean was writing on the tape when he came out for dinner, he didn't say anything.

Burning a hole in his jeans pocket the next morning as Dean casually lent up against Castiel's locker like he belonged there, was Castiel's personal mix tape. Dean was chewing on his thumb nail while he waited for Castiel, wondering if he should change the 'I really like you, but I'm not good with words,' scrawled across the cassette because it was too forward or not. Before Dean can make up his mind, he can hear Castiel's 'thank fuck' as he climbs out of Gabriel's car and can finally get away from his brother. Listening to Castiel's cute little pep talk, Dean's chest swells with confidence and he runs his own hands through his hair and stands up a little straighter as Castiel heads inside.


End file.
